After a full day of hearing, and 3 months of negotiations, the Law Firm of Eric L. Pines, PLLC, secured a very favorable settlement agreement from a Federal Government Agency in a case before the MSPB. For confidentiality purposes, the name of the Agency will not be disclosed.In this case, our client claimed she was coerced into accepting early retirement under a VERA/VSIP program while suffering from a mental incapacity that rendered her unable to make an informed decision to retire.
The Agency claimed that the client was a poor performer who accepted the VERA/VSIP to avoid being fired for poor performance. After a full day of hearing before an MSPB Judge, the Agency agreed to settle the case. In general terms, the Agency agreed to reinstate the employee, “unwind” the VERA/VSIP, pay a lump sum in damages to the Appellant, and allowed the employee to continue in a new position with the Agency outside her old chain of command without any interruption of her service computation date.
This settlement took nearly 3 months to negotiate, due to the difficulty in unwinding a retirement action such as a VERA/VSIP, and may not be possible in every situation.
No post on this website is legal advice, is meant to be legal advice, and certainly does not serve as a substitute for legal advice. Information is power, and we are providing this information to give you, the federal employee, with some power. This information is not widely or easily accessible to Federal Employees.
It is best to consult with a lawyer familiar with Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) appeals to discuss the facts and law of your particular case.
If you have questions about constructive retirement appeals, or negotiating complex settlement agreements with Agency attorneys, contact an MSPB attorney at the Law Offices of Eric L. Pines, PLLC, to schedule a telephone consultation.